What turbo should I buy? Options

[turnaround89]

I am getting ready to turbo my 1.8L engine. And I already know that you can't turbo a 914. But, what i would like to know is what are good cars to get turbo's off of?

I am looking for a small turbo that will spool quickly. Looking to run about 7 to 10 pounds of boost.

What turbo'd cars will give me a good turbo to use? I have been looking for ones on ebay, but don't really want to buy one there. I don't mind buying a used one, so going to the junkyard and getting one is definitely an option.

Which turbo?

[andys]

Just a quick comment; I'd look to keeping the boost in the 5-7psi range. More boost makes manging the heat more difficult in an air cooled motor without an intercooler. The water injection as suggested for this application is worth looking into, IMO. Besides, you really won't notice the second 5 psi nearly as much as the first 5psi.

Andys

[iamchappy]

Just a quick comment; I'd look to keeping the boost in the 5-7psi range. More boost makes manging the heat more difficult in an air cooled motor without an intercooler. The water injection as suggested for this application is worth looking into, IMO. Besides, you really won't notice the second 5 psi nearly as much as the first 5psi.

Andys

I certainly have not found that true, even 8 is a big jump from 5, 10 is a leap and 14 is a plunge!

[ottox914]

Just a quick comment; I'd look to keeping the boost in the 5-7psi range. More boost makes manging the heat more difficult in an air cooled motor without an intercooler. The water injection as suggested for this application is worth looking into, IMO. Besides, you really won't notice the second 5 psi nearly as much as the first 5psi.

Andys

I certainly have not found that true, even 8 is a big jump from 5, 10 is a leap and 14 is a plunge!

I'm with Chappy on this one. The first five was fun, 5-10 was more fun, and when the motor is built up, we'll see how 10-15 feels...

From "street turbocharging" by Warner, page 95.

1-5psi no intercooler or water injection
5-12psi intercooler only
12> intercooler and water injection.

Chappy has come up with an elegant solution to getting air thru an intercooler used in a mid engine application. My intercooler is the standard unit off a wrx, and has a metal plenum below it holding a 1000 cfm fan to pull air thru the intercooler across the whole core. On a 90 degree day, I'd have intake temps around 30 degrees over ambient. On cooler days, the increase was 10-20 degrees. After an hour or so at highway speeds, the IC would heat soak, even with the fan on, and temps would continue to rise to maybe 30-40 above ambient, but at highway speeds at steady throttle there was no boost involved, so slightly elevated temps were not a concern. I was considering adding water injection, and may still do so, but for now plans are for the built motor and a new plenum that seals better, and has 2- 1100 cfm puller fans in it. I'll try the new 2 fan system before getting much farther into the WI install. Of course, this will vary with the type of motor, compression ratio, fuel used, amount of boost, and a 100 other things. Best to walk before you run.